'A Wrinkle in Time': Visually spectacular but not wrinkle

This, along with its star-studded cast and messages of diversity, have surrounded the film with considerable hype.

And while author Madeleine L'Engle's book was published in 1962, this story of middle schooler Meg Murry, her precocious little brother, Charles Wallace, and her friend and fellow outsider Calvin O'Keefe uniting to fight a most malevolent evil reminds some pop-culture watchers of the Parkland, Fla., students and their battle for gun control. They are joined on this voyage by an older boy named Calvin, Meg's nascent love interest, and in that role poor Levi Miller gets the equal opportunity as many a young actress before him: if your only job is to gaze adoringly, you inevitably look like a drip.

The Atlanta-native started acting at age 3 after she told her mother that she wanted to be a "stuperstar".

Book aficionados should take note that this is not, by any means, a literal translation of the book that is beloved by generations.

She said: "I think I would like to see Michael Jordan's first game with the Chicago Bulls". She has to go on a trip around the universe to figure that out. Her journey to self acceptance is an inspiration we all know they need today. "It's valuable to have those early experiences to learn what you don't want". Based on the evidence, director Ava DuVernay did indeed enjoy the latitude to make this her own movie. There's moments when it hits you.

I feel that these films are so timeless and monumental, especially when our world is so divided. Instead, she reminded us, this was an attempt to deliver a movie for 8-12-year-old kids.

Watching "A Wrinkle in Time", I kept thinking about Spike Jonze's 2009 film adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are", a movie many loathed because of the stuff that wasn't straight out of the picture book original. DuVernay will be OK, even if this time she produced something with more than a few wrinkles.

I learned from her to just do the work. To DuVernay's credit, she never talks down to the audience or dumbs down the material for children. Also coming out is "Gringo", an action comedy starring David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron and Joel Edgerton that will be co-distributed by Amazon Studios and STX; along with Entertainment Studios' action drama "The Hurricane Heist". She really values the creative process and the people that surround her that are helping craft her vision.

I loved traveling with Meg and the crew as they explored the wonders and perils of the universe. This is, of course, is an update to the book written in the '60s that has many viewers excited who are getting to see themselves reflected in Meg. A Wrinkle in Time is a rare film for children that doesn't shy away from the hard realities of life but also shows a way forward to a better world. Hopefully I'll be able to become a future filmmaker, and I am producing stuff right now.

In 2008 she created a documentary called "This is Life" about the hip-hop scene at a local cafe, but tells The Washington Post that even then, filmmaking was not part of her plan. And while we're assembling our Great Expectations Wish List, let me add one more thing.

Ultimately - much the way Christopher Nolan's "Inception" was a lot of stuff and nonsense en route to revealing the identity of a surrogate Rosebud - DuVernay's "Wrinkle in Time" is a similarly boring, drawn-out exercise in order to conclude (metaphorically) with a Beatles song.

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